In Netflix's The Umbrella Academy, the leader of the titular team, Luther Hargreeves, retains his super-strength and enhanced durability even after his body is replaced by a gorilla's. The show is adapted from the comic book series created and written by My Chemical Romance's Gerard Way and illustrated by Gabriel Bá. Premiering in 2019 to positive reviews, the series released its second season in 2020 and recently wrapped filming on the upcoming third season.

The Umbrella Academy is formed when 43 women unexpectedly give birth at the same time, bearing children with unique abilities, and eccentric billionaire Sir Reginald Hargreeves adopts seven of them to form his own superhero team. Sir Reginald Hargreeves is not a good father, constantly lying and manipulating his children and referring to them by numbers instead of names. Number One is Luther (Tom Hopper), the de facto leader of the team, who was seemingly born with super-strength and durability powers.

Related: Why Reginald Chose Umbrellas For The Academy's Symbol

Although Luther's body is replaced by a gorilla's, his superpowers are preserved, indicating that his powers go beyond physical enhancements. While in the comic books, Luther's head is transplanted onto a Martian Gorilla's body following a disastrous injury, the Netflix series adaptation has Reginald save Luther's life by injecting him with a serum that transforms his body into a gorilla's. Despite the fact that the origin of the Umbrella Academy's superpowers has not yet been fully explored, the genetic tampering seems to indicate that Luther's powers may be connected to his psyche rather than his body alone.

Umbrella Academy season 2 Luther fight

This interpretation seems to be supported by the show itself. Many viewers found the portrayal of Luther's super-strength underwhelming, but this makes sense when considering a potential connection between Luther's mind and his powers, as he struggles with his identity throughout the series. At the end of season 2, when Luther is confronted by the power-mirroring Lila, he is shocked that she is overwhelming him with his own abilities, even though she is not supplemented with any gorilla DNA. Lila, who seems to have an innate understanding of each power she mirrors, retorts, "Gotta believe in yourself, big boy." This connects Luther's strength and durability directly to his own confidence.

Given Sir Reginald's mysterious alien origins and the theory that he caused the superpowers to manifest in the 43 children, it is likely that Luther's abilities are more complicated than they seem at surface level. At the beginning of season 2, Luther easily uses his gorilla torso to absorb the full blast of a missile when he and his siblings are fighting side-by-side in order to save his brother Klaus; later in the season, he allows himself to be beaten and injured by a non-superpowered opponent because he is so distraught that Allison, who he loves, has gotten married while they were apart. This wide spectrum of strength and durability corresponds once again to Luther's mental state and confidence in himself.

Looking ahead to the Umbrella Academy's inevitable clash with the Sparrow Academy in season 3, it is likely the full extent of Luther's powers will continue to be explored. Whether he will be strengthened or weakened by the apparent connection between his powers and psychology remains to be seen, but either route could lead to a satisfying arc for the character. As The Umbrella Academy expands its roster of characters and powers, it is clear that Luther's arc and abilities will remain at the center of the action, possibly learning about how his gorilla body and psyche work together to grant him his strength.

Next: Theory: The Umbrella Academy Created Their Biggest Nemesis